Accenture and CARE International UK hosted a roundtable in London to discuss the findings in their joint report “Within Reach: How Banks in Emerging Economies can Grow Profitably by Being More Inclusive.” The event was hosted in conjunction with the launch of the report, which proposes six key insights into how banks can effectively and responsibly capitalize on the opportunities of financial inclusion, and which is based on a diagnostic analysis of 30 banks across 12 developing countries.

1. What are the three biggest gaps to achieving financial inclusion in your context in the next five years?

Effective customer segmentation (not just basic, but using analytics to understand their needs and tailor products, services and operations accordingly)

Commercially attractive returns

Interoperability between mobile financial platforms

2. What is one concrete action that people at your event can take to further financial inclusion?

It depends on the actor:

Donors – de-risk initial investments

NGOs – help banks understand customers

Banks – offer credit products which fit needs of customers, not just savings

3. What is one salient quote that came out of the meeting, and who said it?

“We are simply not doing enough to provide finance to rural areas. We have 1million savers but no-one to hand them off to who can offer more advanced Financial services” NGO MFI

“The industry is still working it out – are MNOs competitors or collaborators? Is there an opportunity for pre-competitive collaboration between banks. We all know we should be investing!” Global Bank Representative

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank dedicated to enabling 3 billion people underserved by the financial sector to improve their lives. CFI engages and challenges the financial inclusion industry to better serve, protect and empower clients through its insights, advocacy and stakeholder engagement.